Shamed for sickness: How women of color often face social stigma for cancer diagnosis

Ashlynn Gomez had just woken up from a nap when a call from her doctor changed the trajectory of her life. At 23 she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

At first, her primary care provider in Corpus Christi recommended surgery. However, she felt that wasn’t the route for her and decided to seek treatment at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

The now 25-year-old is in remission. She underwent 17 chemotherapy sessions, 31 rounds of radiation and a lumpectomy.

While Gomez had braced herself for what she knew would be a tough medical journey, what she didn’t see coming were the social stigmas that come from being a woman of color with cancer.

“Some parents pulled their kids away from me,” she recalled. “Some people think that it is a disease that you can catch.”

Women in many communities diagnosed with cancer face similar treatment that takes an emotional toll. Targeted for their religious beliefs, lifestyle choices and sexuality, these women often feel the need to hide or downplay their diagnosis, experts say.

In Gomez's case, people within her Hispanic community repeatedly told her that her cancer emerged because “she needed to find more in her religion and that she wasn’t eating good enough.”

Comments like those suggesting her diagnosis was self-inflicted prompted her to question her faith, food choices and vitamin intake.

Her struggle to find support isn't uncommon.

In fact, cultural stigmas such as mistrust of the health care system and fatalistic attitudes about cancer have been recognized as one of the main challenges in research to reduce cancer disparity by the National Cancer Institute.

More:You may have skipped lung, colon, breast cancer screenings amid COVID. Time to fix that.

Dr. Oluchi Oke, assistant professor of general oncology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, noticed that some ethnic minority patients are heavily spiritual, which prevents them from seeking cancer screenings.

“I don't want to say that they are being naive, but it's more so not wanting to kind of speak something into existence,” Oke said.

Oke mentioned that she does see fewer cases of such stigmas in the United States.

“I think realistically in the United States, based on what we see on the news and internet, there is a lot more education right now," Oke said.

Despite the increase in education, women in the South Asian community continue to face shame around cancer diagnosis and treatment that makes potential remission more challenging.

According to Monalisa Chandra, president of Indian American Cancer Network, South Asian women can also face the added issue of their daughters’ prospective marriages being affected by their cancer diagnosis.

“Women worry how their children’s genetic lineage to cancer will be identified in the community,” Chandra said. “One of the major reasons for depression among the survivors is they don't want to seek help. They don't want you to know that they had cancer.”

Chandra, whose research areas include breast and cervical cancer, HPV vaccination, cancer survivorship and maternal mental health, mentioned that some South Asians are hesitant to get the HPV vaccination that can prevent over 90% of cancers caused by HPV, as well as anal, vaginal, cervical and vulvar precancers.

“Since HPV is a sexually transmitted disease, they think it is not applicable to their community — basically, like, our children don't have sex,” Chandra added.

Indian American Cancer Network is a nonprofit aimed at helping people of South Asian descent affected by cancer through education and support interventions.

“We’re realizing that the cultural barriers are strong and just clinical information is not helping so we are getting into a lot of cultural interventions nowadays," Chandra said.

Raising awareness to find solutions

With the increase in cancer misinformation on social media, raising awareness has been more critical than ever. According to the National Cancer Institute, a recent study found that out of the most popular articles posted on social media in 2018 and 2019 on the four most common cancers, 1 in 3 contained false, inaccurate or misleading information.

In such cases, it is important to increase outreach and community efforts to combat not only the social stigmas but also the emerging health-related misinformation.

“I think the solution, especially in the minority and just ethnic cultures, is to start with some of the leaders in the community, including church leaders,” Oke said. “Sometimes you think it is a stigma thing in their mind, but it’s really the lack of access to care and education.”

Gomez, now an advocate for cancer awareness, emphasized the importance of those who feel heard and supported during their cancer fight.

“You had all these plans, and when cancer hits you, you have to change everything. It's a whole different story,” Gomez said. “We just don't want to be judged when we start opening up to you. We just want somebody there that's going to support us through it all — no judgment."

Prachi Vashisht is a KEDT intern, who covers education, culture and local news.